Water Jacketed Soap Melter

[Chrishaglerr]

Hello everyone! So i'm looking at vamping up my production from my 6lb soap melter to a 35lb+ soap melter. I have found these Water Jacketed soap melters for sale on candles and supplies but I really don't understand how they work lol. I see an input for I guess a hose? Does a hose have to be connected 24/7 while heating soap or is it like you fill it up, cap it and melt soap and fill it only every now and then? Very curious!

https://www.candlesandsupplies.net/20-Round-Wax-Melter-Water-Jacketed
Thank you!

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm not a candle maker, but I'm familiar with lab and industrial chemical processing equipment.

It looks to me like you add water to the jacket of the heater to fill a reservoir in the bottom plus enough extra to surround the sides of the internal tank. Once filled you don't need to continually add water. That means if you use a hose to fill the jacket, the hose can be disconnected.

My guess is you'll need to top off the water level from time to time, however, because the jacket needs to be open to the outside air for safety -- you don't want pressure to build up inside. There will be some evaporation from that vent. You will also want to regularly drain the jacket and replace the water to control buildup of mineral scale. Your tank will heat better and the heating element will last longer with regular flushing and water replacement.

An electric heating element in the reservoir heats the water and then the warmed water circulates by natural convection to warm the sides of the internal tank and melt the contents. If you have to melt stuff that has a melt point above 200F, you'll have to fill the jacket with a heat transfer oil -- it's not practical nor safe to use water near its boiling point.

I found this discussion thread while researching your question. I thought you might find it helpful -- Water Jacket Wax Melters